Lesson Plan #10
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Exploring Canadian Provinces
and Territories
GRADE LEVEL
Grades 7 to 12
CURRICULUM
Language Arts, Journalism, Geography, History, Social
Studies
OVERVIEW OF LESSON PLAN
In this lesson, students examine the various peoples of the Canadian
provinces and territories and their influences on government,
economy, and each other. Working in small groups, students will
then create historical and cultural feature article about their
provinces and territories. Using the SchoolNet News Network website
resources will help students and teachers learn more about journalistic
writing, connect with students/teachers across Canada and provide
a safe, structured environment to publish their work This lesson
will also work well as a collaborative project between different
schools.
MATERIALS AND PREPARATION
- SNN Writing Guide (for
reference)
- Resources on Canadian geography, history, etc.
- Computers with access to the Internet
ACTIVITIES/PROCEDURES
1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: In the first five minutes
of class, students look at a large world map and discuss the
following questions:
- What is the difference between provinces and territories?
- What are the ten Canadian provinces?
- What three Canadian territories are on your classroom map?
- What other countries border or are very close to Canada,
and how might the peoples of those lands influence the various
Canadian provinces and territories?
2. Divide students into ten to thirteen pairs or small groups.
Each group then chooses a Canadian province (Alberta, British
Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia,
Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan) or territory
(Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon).
Each pair or small group will then conduct some basic research
about their province or territory. In their research, students
should respond to the following aspects of that province or territory:
- government (when it joined Canada, current leaders, legislative
body, important historic leaders and events)
- economy (imports and exports, currency, current strength
and weaknesses)
- location/cities ( major cities, where it is located in respect
to other areas of Canada)
- people (different ethnic groups that live there; traditions
of different peoples, how cultures of these peoples are evident
in different aspects of life in the territory or province
- How does daily life in an area reflect the culture of the
people populating it?
- Different cultural/historic sites and activities that happen
each year
3. WRAP-UP/ HOMEWORK: After concluding their
research, each group creates a feature article (approx. 800 words)
about their province or territory. Students should imagine they
are telling a story to visitors about that province/territory
- historically and culturally so the articles should be informative,
colourful and interesting.
Their article should answer the 5 W's: Who, What, When, Where,
Why (and sometimes How). Tell them about the inverted pyramid.
This means that articles should be written with the most important
information first and the least important last. Students should
also review the SNN Writing Guide on writing an article.
EVALUATION/ASSESSMENT:
Students will be evaluated based on participation in class discussions,
thorough research of a Canadian province or territory and a well-written
feature article of the researched province or territory.
EXTENSION ACTIVITY
A travel guide including all of the relevant research
information, photos, which will be quite lengthy. Students may
wish to create their guides in loose-leaf binders. Once completed,
the travel guides can be displayed in the school library or media
center for other students' use.
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